Big Idea:
If we use letters to represent our name, instead of symbols, does that change the meaning of our name? Come read to find out.

Today, I read with my students the story of My Name Is Yoon by Helen Recorvits. This story is about a Korean family that emigrates to the United States. The daughter experiences adjustment issues. As I read, I will be posing text dependent questions. Since this it the first read, the questions ask about what the text states explicitly. These questions set the foundation for a deeper discussion about the author's craft/purpose and analysis of the ideas in the text later on.

Today we will focus on the first half of the text, and tomorrow's lesson will continue our work into the second half.

Lesson Opening:

I start with my students on the carpet and share the objective. I ask them to share their knowledge of the country Korea.

Then, I review our question words: Who, What, Where, When, How and Why. I let them know that as we read they will be using these words to ask questions about the characters, the setting, and anything else they want to know more about.

This story is part of our anthology, and a couple of the pros about it include that I have a copy for each student and it allows with much practice in using the table of contents. I dismiss my students to their tables and ask them to look up where the story starts. When they find it, I like for them to raise their hand so that they can share. Giving them a task keeps them busy as we transition into this part of the lesson.

This is the beginning of the school year and I want to establish certain reading routines and techniques for the rest of the year. I seek to make the reading an interactive one and I will use two reading techniques:

A cloze reading: I read and I leave a word out, for the class to ready chorally. This is assures me they are keeping up with the reading.

A mumble reading is a whisper reading, where I ask the students to read in a whisper voice. Second graders at this stage are still learning how to read silently and this is a good transition. Usually when I incorporate a mumble read, I read the same section aloud together. It tell them that it is a good way for them to practice before we read together.

I tell students before we start reading about these two techniques, and then I start asking the Text Dependent Questions. I say, "As we read, I will be asking you questions about the characters and the story. For example:"

Resources

I gather the students on the rug for a brief period to discuss the selection further. This informal discussion will help set the stage for later in the year when we begin to use Socratic Seminar to discuss texts we read. For today's discussion, I pose the following questions:

Who is this story about?

What have learned about Yoon so far?

My students need much practice with academic language and text evidence, and this gives them an opportunity to use that vocabulary and to look at the story once again for text evidence before they respond in their journals (see next section).

My students sit at their desks. They respond to the question in their journals: What have learned about Yoon?

I ask this question because it forces them to go back into the text to find evidence about the main character, Yoon.

I make sure to let them know that I expect them to write details found in the story using complete sentences. As they write, I walk around to help them. Some will need support or guidance as to where they can find some of this evidence. I will direct them the page, but that's all. Others will need support with spelling and some with starting and staying on task.

Because I work with English Language Learners and they benefit much from using visuals, I ask to illustrate once they are done writing their sentences. This keeps them on task as the other students finish. And these illustrations do enhance their learning because they help them hone in on more text details. Plus, second graders still love to draw.